A Year of Celibacy
by xInoBabe
Summary: Ino was a happy celebrity chef making an almost six figure salary. But one day she receives news that her father has died and to receive the whole inheritance, she would have to vow an oath of celibacy for a year. Too bad Tokyo is full of hot guys.DeixIno
1. Chapter 1

**Authorly tidbits**: I've been wanting to write a DeixIno for a really long time. I've seen some out there, and there aren't that many long chapter ones, but the ones that are out there are actually pretty good. I love Ino, and I love Deidara…so here's a DeixIno fanfiction! This one's a short chapter…but they'll get longer (hopefully). I might go back and revise this chapter, because I felt an impulsive need to post it up before I abandon the fanfiction…haha so I hope you all enjoy.

**Pairings**: Mainly DeixIno, perhaps some SuixKa, some TemaxShika and a lot of other stuff going on

**Warnings**: A/U, a whole lot of dialogue (I don't do paragraph descriptions so well), a little OOC and possible _references _to OCs and small doses of OCs (more like shop owners and such)

**Rated**: T, because let's face it; no one really reads anything under T these days.

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Of Birds and Bees (Without the Bees)

Chapter 1: Will Reading

"Yamanaka Ino?" asked a blond man in a black suit with fingerless black gloves. His hair was tied in a ponytail. His bangs covered his left eye. They were both standing in the lobby of the Tokyo Hilton Hotel.

"Yes," replied Ino. Her hair was swept back in a ponytail, similar to the man's, and she wore an expensive black Chanel dress with strappy black Jimmy Choo heels. A bellboy followed her, carrying a pile of baggage sitting on a cart. "You must be the person Akatsuki Law Firm sent, right?"

The man smiled. "Hai. The name's Deidara, un. You're already checked in. Here's your key, un." He handed her the hotel key and motioned for the bellboy to carry all of her luggage up to her room. "Are you ready to go to the reading, un?"

She nodded and they made their way to the elevator. It seemed like just a few moments ago that she had gotten the news…

_Yamanaka Ino woke up with a huge hangover. She had overdone the drinking again. Slowly, she got up and trudged her way into the bathroom to look for some aspirins in the medicine cabinet._

_Taking a glass of water and gulping down a few of the pills, Ino walked into the kitchen of her apartment. She had a pile of mail, most of them junk. As she threw envelopes aside, a lavender one caught her eye. It had the words _From the Akatsuki Law Firm _printed on it. The Akatsuki was her father's lawyer firm, and a letter from the firm was always important. She hoped she hadn't been disowned._

_Tearing open the envelope, a small letter fell out. She picked it up and read it:_

Yamanaka Ino, daughter of Yamanaka Inoichi:

It is unfortunate that I must inform you that your father has passed away. I have hand written this letter myself, because your father was an important client of ours. You are invited to his will reading on September 19th at the Tokyo Hilton Hotel. A subordinate of mine will meet you there and escort you to the room. It will be around 9 o'clock sharp, so do not be late.

Here for yours to serve,

Uchiha Itachi

_So her father had passed away at last. He was the man that had taught her everything she knew about the culinary arts. True, she was not crying, but she did feel a pang of sadness. Their relationship was more of student-teacher rather than father-daughter. The letter didn't even say the cause of death or even if the funeral had already passed. She would go, though, to honor his memory. _

_She looked at the calendar to see what day it was. There were times when she would let the mail pile up before checking it. "Shit," she cursed when she realized it was already September 17__th__. That wouldn't give her much time to ask Jiraiya-sama for the weekend off…_

There are many things about Yamanaka Ino. The blonde had horrible morals. She was a heavy drinker, believed in polyandry and one night stands, had no problems with lying, dressed skimpily and simply didn't believe in low fat dairy products. She thinks that when you go "incognito", you must be vacationing in Africa, she can't draw or paint anything other than stick figures, her poetry is about as deep as the kiddy pool and she was whiny and sometimes egotistical. Worst of all, however, was when she had PMS. There are some things so horrible that shouldn't be talked about, and this was one of them.

But she was one of the best chefs in all of Osaka.

When looking at extra sticky sushi rice, she could tell you five possible reasons why it was too sticky and pinpoint the correct one. Just because she can't draw or paint doesn't mean she's not artistic. Her mother had taught her the art of flower arrangement before she died, and she's a professional at making pictures with sauces. She could also eat anything without guilt. Not only that, but she's also a successful organic gardener and she can play the piano.

However, the stranger standing with her in the elevator knew none of that. To him, she was just another client waiting to be escorted to some tedious lawyer business. He noted, though, that she looked very similar to him. Heck, they almost shared the same hairstyle.

The silence in the elevator was killing her. Ino couldn't keep silent for more than a minute. Anyways, she heard every time there was an awkward silence, a baby seal died. Or maybe that was every time a man wore a thong. Whatever, she couldn't remember half of the things she read.

It was he who broke the silence. "You know, when they said to look out for a cute blonde girl, I didn't think you'd be this beautiful, un." He grinned at her.

She gave him her signature flirtatious smile. "You're not so bad yourself." She knew she shouldn't be flirting right now, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't lying, he was pretty hot.

"So what do you do for a living?" asked Deidara.

"Just a chef," said Ino modestly. "I work at _Kurahara_."

"No kidding, un?" said Deidara in surprise. "I knew I heard your name somewhere before. You were called a 'child prodigy' by some reviewers and I was sure there was something on the television about you once, un."

Ino laughed. It was nice to meet someone who knew of her career. "No, my colleague, Hyuuga Neji, is more of the child prodigy."

"Ah, I've heard of him, un. A bit cold or so a journalist friend tells me. He ate there once and interviewed him, un."

"Well, that's Neji for you," laughed Ino. "So were you always a lawyer?" The elevator dinged and they went out. The room was at the far end of the hotel.

"Nah, I once was a terrorist bomber for hire—" she hoped he was kidding, "—but I'm an artist too, un."

That was sexy. Ino **loved** artists. "What do you do? Paint or what?"

"Nah, the only thing I can paint are stick figures. I'm more of a sculptor."

"Do you have a specialty?" asked Ino.

"Yup," answered Deidara. "Exploding birds, un."

Before she could ask him what he meant, they had reached the room. He opened it and motioned for her to go in first.

Inside, there were quite a few people sitting in foldable chairs. There was a table that served complimentary snacks and a punch bowl. A handsome man with short red hair at a podium, who was clearly reading something, stopped. "Deidara, you're late."

"No, no, Sasori no Danna, if you just look at the clock right there, it says—" Deidara stopped for a second.

"And what does it say?"

"Er…nine-twenty…" replied Deidara meekly. He looked down at his own watch. "Oops…I must've set my watch wrong, un…Guess we shouldn't have dawdled…Gomen...un."

"You know I hate when people make me wait," said Sasori sternly.

"Gomen, gomen, un," apologized Deidara again.

"Heh, I bet Ino-pig seduced him or something," said a voice. Ino's eyes followed it to a pink haired woman dressed in a red velvet dress. It was Haruno Sakura.

"Billboard brow!" exclaimed Ino. "Long time no see." They were best friends. Naturally, the two hated each others guts. She noticed that Sakura was sitting next to a certain Uchiha…Uchiha Sasuke, to be exact. Sakura and she had fought over him when she was still living in Tokyo. She was hoping those two weren't together, when she noticed a redhead with strange hair sitting next to him. _Wonder who that is…_

"Please take a seat, Miss Yamanaka, and we'll continue the will reading," said Sasori. She sat in an empty chair in the deserted third row. She was surprised when Deidara went and sat down next to her. "Deidara, you don't need to stay any longer."

"Oh, but will readings are always interesting, un," lied Deidara. He hated them and all the drama that followed, but he couldn't leave just yet. He hadn't gotten the blonde's phone number yet.

Sasori gave him a strange look, but continued. "_And as for the summer cottage in Hakone, I would like to award Anko with it for all of her hard work._" A young woman with dark hair jumped up and squealed. The sounds of people muttering their disappointment could be heard.

Ino tapped the person sitting in front of her. A man with black hair and a light complexion turned around. "Excuse me, but has he read much yet?"

"No, the first few minutes were filled with a speech. This is the first big thing given out. Everyone received a trivial amount of money," replied the man, "about five hundred thousand yen each."

"Thank you," said Ino. The man turned around.

The reading went on with small family heirlooms, which were to be, of course, given to other family members, some Ino never even knew about. Finally, it came to the real deal: the actual dividing of the fortune and who would get the restaurant.

"_As for the Yamanaka fortune, I would like eighty percent of it to go to my daughter, Yamanaka Ino, ten percent to all of my nieces and nephews, and the rest to be equally divided between my employees._" Ino grinned. The Yamanaka fortune made her almost-six-salary pay check look like minimum wage. "_I would also like for my daughter to inherit my restaurant._" Ino could hear her a couple groans of disappointment. _"However_," continued Sasori, "_in order for her to obtain more than twenty percent of the Yamanaka fortune and the restaurant, she must abstain from 'baby making'_—", at this Ino turned bell pepper red as people around her snickered, most notably Deidara, "—_ for one year or until she gets married, and in order for her to gain more than fifty percent of the fortune, she must be married. If she fails to do so, the restaurant will go to Haruno Sakura, who has been like a daughter to me when Ino was absent from my life, and the rest of my money will go to the Akatsuki Law Firm, which has dutifully served me for many long years. All other family heirlooms, homes, etc. automatically go to Ino, regardless of whether or not she accepts this challenge. I would also like her to be working at the restaurant during the one year, if she chooses to accept the challenge, because it would be easier to monitor her. _

_I would like to say that my life has been a wonderful one, and I have found more happiness and fortune in my life than any man should have. I would like to see my restaurant continue to grow and flourish with the help of my original employees and I thank you all for making it a success. Please do continue to serve under my daughter, as I have faith that she will be able to do the challenge I have set for her_." Sasori finished and put the paper back into his briefcase. "Any questions?" There was silence. "No? Feel free to help yourself to the free snack bar. I'll be around to answer any compulsive questions."

Everyone got up. Some people left, most content with what they received while a few looked disgusted at the meager amount they obtained.

"Yo, Sasuke, can't we stay?" asked a guy with white hair standing with Sasuke and the redhead. "I'm thirsty."

"No, we have business to do," replied the Uchiha.

As the three were about to leave the room, Sakura noticed and ran after them. "Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed in a cutesy voice. "You're not going to leave now are you? Please stay!"

The redhead gave her an annoyed look, but Sasuke just said, "Move aside," and kept walking. Sakura looked hurt, and Ino couldn't help but pity her.

"So, Ino-chan," said Deidara. They both were standing and making their way to the table. There was champagne and dainty little things, like crackers topped with Bulgarian caviar and lobster dip. "How about you stop by sometime and take a look at my art, un?" He poured champagne into two glasses.

"Sure, why not," said Ino, smiling. She picked up the glass. Ah, alcohol. The nectar from hell that made her do stupid things when consumed in large amounts. How she loved it. She took a small sip. "Give me your cell phone." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Sidekick 3. She added her number into it. "Call me when you're free."

"Hey, Ino-pig," called Sakura as she walked over. She eyed Deidara from head to toe. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Um, Sakura this is Deidara, Deidara, Sakura," introduced Ino, reluctantly.

"Hello, un," said Deidara.

"When'd you two meet?"

"Oh, just a few minutes ago in the lobby. He was sent by the law firm to escort me up here," said Ino, grinning.

"What?" exclaimed Sakura, enviously. "We got some strangely colored fish man."

Deidara snickered. "That's probably Kisame no Danna."

"Who do you mean by 'we'?" asked Ino.

"Oh, you know, me and the rest of the staff. You'd meet them if you stayed, but since I know you're not going to accept the challenge…"

"What do you mean?" asked Ino fiercely.

"Well, you obviously can't stand a year without…well, you-know-what…" Sakura smirked.

"You think I'm going to let my father's restaurant go to you, forehead girl? I don't think so."

"Whatever, it's going to be mine one way or another. I mean, look at yourself Ino. You're just a slut," and with that, Sakura walked away with one last longing glance at Deidara.

"GR!" growled Ino. She was considering whether or not she should take the challenge, but Sakura had settled the decision for her. "I hate her!"

"So, um, you guys are friends?" asked Deidara, unsurely.

"Oh yes, _best _of friends."

Ino took a deep break and closed her eyes to calm down. Then, she walked up to Sasori with Deidara following closely behind her. "Hey, if I accept my father's challenge, do I have to sign anything?"

"No," said Sasori, "but you'll need to move here, for a year at least, and when you go back to where you come from, you'll need an escort from our firm."

"I'll escort her, un," said Deidara right after the words left Sasori's mouth.

"She didn't even say she accepted yet," replied Sasori.

To save Deidara from embarrassment, Ino quickly said, "I accept."

"Well then, the day is September 21st and the time is ten o'clock sharp. We'll meet here a year from now. I'll arrange for you to go back to Osaka tomorrow and pack. Expect a letter on your door tonight with all the information." The other guests had already dispersed, one by one. "Come Deidara, we must leave now."

"But, Sasori—"

"Be a good boy, like Tobi, and come." Deidara scowled after Sasori's retreating figure. He waved apologetically to Ino as he trudged off.

So she was going to be in for a ride. Her father never knew how to make things simple or easy for her. And just when she had met a cute guy. Not only that, but her birthday was in four days.

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More A.N.: It's summer, so my writing skills are obviously mediocre…but don't worry, as soon as school starts, I'll be a bit better…Hoped you all liked it. Please remember to review!


	2. Chapter 2

Chappy two is up (: I'm glad I got reviews :D Some of the reviewers have nice DeixIno stories...so check em out ppl! This isn't really a big plot chapter; I'll be working more on that in the next one...this is just to set up the mood for Ino and Deidara's relationship. Oh, and the tofu ice cream exists. It's so amazing...anywho R&R onegaishimasu.

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Back at the hotel, Ino jumped on her bed. She had planned to take the whole week off and just relax in Tokyo, but now she would have to return ASAP and try to get settled as fast as possible. According to the will, the house in Tokyo went to her automatically. So she was back to where she started from. That was just peachy.

She closed her eyes, but it seemed as if a knocking came at her door right after that. She checked the hotel's digital clock by the drawer and realized that it was already six in the evening. Getting up, she checked her make up in the mirror and opened the door. In front of her stood—

"Deidara!" exclaimed Ino. She wasn't hoping to see him so soon. "How are you?" He was out of suit, now dressed in a white T-shirt with a picture of a bird on it semi-covered by a half zipped up in a black Rocawear jacket and black jeans. He decked black converses, and the black fingerless gloves were still on.

"Well, I'm doing okay, but…you haven't had dinner yet have you, un? I would feel so much better if you graced me with your presence tonight, yeah," said Deidara. He grinned at her.

She smiled back. "Sure. I'll have to change first, though. You wouldn't mind waiting for me in the lobby?"

"Course not, un. I'll see you in a few minutes then."

"See you," said Ino, closing the door as he gave a little wave and walked off. Dinner with Deidara…dinner always ended with something sweeter than dessert…but no, it was just the first date. She had her own set of rules for dating that she obliged to, and even a guy as cute as Deidara couldn't make her break them. Anyways, if she cracked the first night, Sakura would never let her live it down.

Rummaging through her one of her suitcases, she pulled out tight jeans from Citizens of Humanity, a yellow silk Bebe blouse, and shiny leather pumps from Coach. After getting dressed and spraying herself with a little bit of _Miss Cherie_ by Dior, Ino touched up her make up, grabbed her Fendi handbag, and left for the lobby.

She found Deidara sitting there patiently for her in one of the chairs. "You get ready pretty quick for a girl, yeah," said Deidara, smirking.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting," she said, giving him a flirtatious look.

He laughed. "Ready to go?" She nodded. He offered her an arm and she accepted. As they were walking out of the hotel, he asked, "Where would you like to go, un? I'll treat."

"Well…I _am_ on a diet…what about sushi?" she suggested. "I've never tried the rotating sushi bars before…"

"Alright, I actually know a place, un. Kisame no danna loves sushi, and we've eaten at this place at least three hundred times, yeah."

"Is Kisame-san a lawyer, too?" asked Ino. The lights in the city were popping up and more people flooded the streets. The smells of cooking food came from nearby stands.

"Well, he's more of a businessman, un," explained Deidara. "The firm doesn't just fight in court. We're a huge corporation and I think we own at least fifteen percent of the businesses in Tokyo, un."

"I bet the pay is really good."

"Not if Kakuzu's your boss. He's like a dragon, always hording all of the money, un."

"Aw, poor Dei-chan," cooed Ino.

"Not when I'm with you." He looked down at her.

She burst out laughing and punched him in the arm. "That was so corny."

"Hey, you gotta give a guy props for trying, yeah!" They stopped in front of a restaurant. "Right in here." They entered, walking through the glass door.

"Irasshaimase!" greeted the employees of the restaurant.

"For two?" asked a waitress.

"Hai," replied Deidara. She showed them to their seat in front of the moving counter. When they sat down, Deidara asked, "Do you want anything to drink?"

Ino shook her head. "Green tea's fine." [In sushi bars in Japan, and most other places, green tea is complimentary. Plates of beautiful sushi moved along the rotating belt, so many different colors on top of a mound of white rice. "Oooh, this looks good…" she grabbed a plate or four.

"So were you from here originally, un?" asked Deidara, grabbing a plate of sea bream sushi.

"Yup," said Ino, swallowing a mouthful of rice and fish. "Now I'm back in good ol' Tokyo…" There was a hint of sarcasm in that last part.

"What, you don't want to be here, yeah?" He had caught that sarcasm. Also, he noticed that for every plate he ate, Ino had already eaten two.

"Oh, don't get me wrong or anything, I love Tokyo. The excitement, the fashion, the people…but…haven't you ever felt like you were being smothered at home, and you just want to escape? It's hard to explain, and I'm pretty bad with words…but like, I just want to get away from everyone's expectations and start all over…" She grabbed a few more plates from off of the belt as Deidara soaked in what she had just said. He would've thought she'd have no problem standing up to everyone's expectations. "But enough about me, I talk too much. Where are you from?"

"I'm from the small village of Subashiri in the Yamanashi Prefecture, near Mt. Fuji, un. It was pretty boring, but that was where I learned how to sculpt." He poured them some tea and took a sip.

"Any siblings?" The man next to her was staring at her pile of plates that were continuously growing.

"Nah, my parents couldn't even handle me, yeah." He was already full, but it didn't look like Ino was finished just yet. She called that a diet?

"A little hell raiser, were we?" she smirked. Maybe just one more plate…

"Me?! Never!" Deidara feigned innocence.

She laughed. After piling her last plate on top of her victorious mountain, she said, "Finished!"

"You know," said Deidara, after counting all of the plates, "you ate triple what I ate…" He suddenly felt less manly. "Diet my ass, yeah."

He was funny; she had to give him that. "How about some dessert?"

"Just as soon as I pay the bill, un." He wondered where she put all of it. When the waitress counted all of the plates and wrote down their total, he nearly had a heart attack. His wallet certainly felt lighter…

The two left the shop. "I know this place with the best ice cream. It's made from tofu, and, like, the guy flips it over and, like, it doesn't fall over!" He wanted to laugh at her enthusiasm about ice cream staying on the cone, but just nodded as she pulled him towards the ice cream shop. "Daddy used to always take me here."

An old man was hunched behind a soft serve ice cream machine, serving a mother holding the hands of her daughter in front of them. When it was their turn, the old man looked at Ino for a second and suddenly, he exclaimed, "Yamanaka Ino!"

"Hello, Mitsuru-san," said Ino, smiling.

"It's been ages! How are you doing? I heard about your father, that must be why you're back."

"Hai, but I'll be moving back. I've missed your ice cream. Speaking of which, can I have two cones?"

The man noticed Deidara. "Ah, a new boyfriend?"

"We're just friends," smiled Ino. "Oh, Deidara, this is Mitsuru-san, Mitsuru-san, this is Deidara."

"Nice to meet you, Deidara," said Mitsuru. "He's a handsome one, Ino."

"Mitsuru-san!" laughed Ino as Deidara colored slightly.

The old man just chuckled and turned around to get the ice cream. He came back with two cones topped with creamy beige ice cream. "Here you are, on the house. Think of it as a welcome back gift."

"Arigato, Mitsuru-san," said Ino, grabbing the cones and handing Deidara one. "I'll see you around."

"Sayonara, Ino," said the old man as the two left the shop.

Outside, the sky was a dark blue and clear. There were no stars. The city lights were too bright. "Look, Deidara!" Ino flipped over her cone. The ice cream didn't fall over. She took a lick. "Yum!"

He took a taste. It was super thick and good, but a bit too sweet for his taste. "Tofu, eh?"

"Yup," replied Ino. "I almost love it as much as matcha pudding."

"You have a sweet tooth, don't you, un?"

"Yeah, I was really deprived of sweets as a little girl. My mother was afraid I'd get fat, so my father would have to sneak me some." The two continued to lick their sweet.

"Was your mother at the will reading?"

"Nah, she died from breast cancer when I was thirteen." Music flooded the streets as street performers and bands began setting up and playing.

"I'm sorry, yeah. My mother died when I was young, too." He wrapped an arm around her. "Enough about the morbid stuff, un. Let's go watch a band or something."

The two spent the rest of the night talking and meandering around the streets, stopping at stores and boutiques that caught their (mostly Ino's) eyes. It was soon nearly midnight. "It's getting late," said Deidara as they were walking towards the hotel. "Did you have a nice time, un?"

"Totally," replied Ino. She truly did have fun. She had thought Deidara to only be a pretty face, but he was actually quite well rounded and funny. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"That's something, coming from you, un." They were going up the elevator to her room.

"So you'll be the one to escort me back to Osaka, right?"

"I did volunteer, yeah." The elevator dinged and they got out, now walking towards her room.

"You don't have a girlfriend, do you?" They were now only a few doors away.

"I don't really do relationships so well, un. For me, everything is like art: always fleeting, yeah." The two were in front of her door now.

"That's a shame." She unlocked the door and went inside. "Thanks for everything, Deidara-kun." She waited to see if he would try to kiss her. He didn't. That was another thing that set him apart from the rest of the guys.

"Night, Ino."

He was about to walk away, but she tapped him and he turned around. She gave him a small kiss, said, "Good night," and closed the door quickly behind her.

Deidara stood outside her door, touching his lips.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yeahh...this chap was a bit short and boring...read my bottom author's note...but yay for Hidan! Oh the OC in this chapter will play no signifcant role whatsoever in this story. Just thought I'd let you all know. R&R s'il vous plait. More exciting stuff to come soon. Oh and I have no clue why it's not double spaced in this beginning because I so did double space it in my document and when I uploaded it...it came out undoublespaced for a portion of the story...

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Chapter 3

Ino groaned as the sound of a loud ringing filled the room. She began slapping the digital clock, hoping to find the snooze button, but still the sound commenced. Looking at the digital clock sitting beside her bed, she saw that it was only 6 A.M. It took a while for her to realize that the phone was ringing instead. She picked up wondering who the hell bothered to disturb her beauty rest. "What do you want?" she asked groggily.  
"Miss Yamanaka?" asked a cool voice on the other side. "This is the Hilton Hotel wakeup call and we are calling on behalf of a Mr. Akasuna Sasori who requested this call for you."  
"You people are daft," she said, hanging up the phone. Closing her eyes once more, she let herself fall asleep.  
It seemed like a few seconds later that a knocking persisted at her door. God, what now? Getting up, she slowly made her way to the door. When she opened it, she found herself faced to face with an oddly colored man that strangely reminded her of fish. "Uh…"  
"Yamanaka Ino?" asked the man. She nodded. "I'm here to escort you back to Osaka. You should've gotten a notice in your room about the time and such of our trip."  
She thought back on last night. It was really late and she hadn't really checked her room for anything before crashing onto her bed and sleeping. "Er…I thought Deidara was supposed to accompany me?"  
"The task was left to me, I'm afraid. We'll have to be at the train station by seven-thirty, and it's already six-thirty."  
"Sorry…I had no clue I was expected to be up this early…it'll just be a second."  
"I'll be waiting outside."  
She closed the door, feeling slightly disappointed. Who knew when she would ever see him again? Sighing, she began to go through her daily morning routine, though a little quicker than usual. After packing everything away, she tried pulling all of her bags outside. The blonde had a problem with over packing.  
"Need some help there?" asked the man, leaning against the wall.  
"I'd love some," replied Ino, struggling to get a Louis Vuitton suitcase out of the door.  
The man chuckled, but came over to give her a hand. Soon, they had gotten all of the bags out. The elevator barely had any space left for the two when they put all of the bags in. Needless to say, the ride down was a long and cramped one. Ino kept glancing at the man next to her. He just looked really fishy…literally. And she wondered how he got to be that tinge of blue.  
It was seven-fifteen by the time they left the hotel and went into a cab. The man had to pay the driver a little extra to get him to go faster. Something dawned upon Ino as she rode in the yellow cab. "You must be Kisame-san?"

The man looked surprised at the fact that she knew his name. "Yes," replied Kisame. "How did you know?"

"Deidara mentioned you a few times."

The taxi stopped in front of the station and Kisame and Ino hurried out, rushing to get to their platform. Kisame led them to Platform 10, hurrying through the doors with all of Ino's bags behind them. Scanning the aisles for their seats, Kisame muttered, "Twenty-four B, twenty-four B…" until finally he found her seat and motioned for Ino to sit as he tried to store as much of her luggage into the compartments as possible. Needless to say, the area soon became very cramped.

"I don't see why we couldn't get first class," whined Ino as she tried giving herself some leg room.

"We at Akatsuki didn't think you would respond so soon. It was short notice. Sasori had to pull a few…strings…in order to get us back today," replied Kisame in a matter-of-factly tone. He began walking off.

"Where are you going?" asked Ino.

"My seat's on the other side of the train. I'll be here as soon as possible when the train stops to help you with your items." Ino watched his retreating figure and sighed, staring out of the window now. No one was even sitting here.

Taking her iPod out of her bag, she clicked shuffle and stared out at the rolling scenery that was passing by.

"Will you turn off that fucking J-pop shit?" asked a not so amiable voice next to her. She turned around to see a man with shoulder length silver hair glaring at her. She hadn't even notice that he had sat down next to her.

"Excuse me?" No one offended her music.

He rolled his eyes. "Another blonde bimbo," he muttered under his breath. Around his neck hung a charm that was an upside down triangle in a circle, a symbol that seemed familiar to Ino, though she couldn't quite remember where she had seen it before.

"Ass hole," she replied. He was cute, but he wasn't _that_ cute.

He glowered at her, but remained silent, putting his ear buds in and turning up his music. It was J-rock, the visual kei kind, and she despised it. How could anyone understand what they were saying? From the sounds of it, the song was by Gazette. Her recognition came from rooming with Tenten for a while, who was a big fan of theirs.

"How about you turn _your_ crap off?" she said loudly.

"How about no." He turned it on louder. She hoped he went deaf.

"Bastard," she muttered under her breath.

"Can you move any of your shit?" The man kicked one of her Louis Vuitton suitcase.

"Hey, what the hell?!" She bet that it cost more than he could make in a year.

"Damn it, move your shit!" Needless to say, it was going to be a long ride.

* * *

"Stop number eighteen," said the voice of a woman through the speakers. "Passengers going to Osaka, please exit to your right."

Ino opened her eyes sleepily. She had slept throughout the rest of the trip. She looked to her right, but saw that the rude man had disappeared. She saw Kisame trying to push past a group of people as he made his way over to where she was sitting. Getting up, she grabbed as many of her bags as she could and waited for him to assist her.

"Had a good ride, I hope?" he asked when he finally arrived.

"Could've been better." He grabbed the rest of her stuff and they hurried through the door.

After taking the taxi to Ino's home, they dragged all of her stuff inside. The house was dark, but there was some light issuing from the living room. "Tenten?" called out Ino.

A brunette ran out of the living room. "Ino!" she chimed. "You're back early."

"Yeah…some things came up. I'll explain later. Oh, um, this is Kisame-sama. He works for a law firm that my father happens to be a client of. Kisame-sama, this is Tenten, my roommate."

The two both bowed, both murmuring "Hajimemashite".

"Kisame-sama, will you be lodging her tonight?" asked Ino.

"No, I have reservations at a hotel. Just tell me when you're ready to leave, and the Akatsuki will prepare for your trip back. Have a good rest." He left her bags there and left, closing the door softly behind him.

"You're going back?" asked Tenten.

"It's quite interesting really…"

* * *

Tenten gaped at Ino once she finished telling her story. "So you're actually going to do it? Seriously, Ino, I've never ever seen you go through more than two weeks without a guy. And this Deidara…he seems so hot. I don't know how you're going to survive…"

Ino threw a fluffy pillow at her. "Geezes, thanks for the moral support." The two were in Ino's very purple room. "Ugh, and worst of all, Sasuke's there…with another girl who's always clinging onto him…"

"I thought you were over him?"

"It's just one of those things, you know? Like…I can't help but have that funny feeling when I see him. And to be honest, I think he's grown a lot more handsome." She let out a long sigh. "_And_ I have to put up with Sakura."

Tenten let out a laugh. "Ah, your_ best_ friend…"

"If I find out that she hooked up with Sasuke while I was gone, I don't know what I'd do. My father's such a bastard…may he rest in peace."

"Oi, Ino, you're thinking too much about this. Let's look at the bright side. Once the year is over, you'll have a cute guy, a restaurant, a huge salary, _and_ a ginormous fortune. I wonder how Jiraiya will take this though…you're like his prodigy."

Ino chuckled. "More like Naruto, those two are more alike than they'd want to think."

"Ah, I'm going to miss you, Ino! It'll be so damn quiet without your big mouth."

Ino laughed. "Shut up, you talk almost as much as I do! I'll miss you as much, too. I'll call every week."

"I can't believe we ended up in the same place," said Tenten, reminiscently.

"Yeah…who would've thought," said Ino. It was strange how the two had never truly talked, even though they had both attended the same school from kindergarten until high school.

"Osaka's a big city too." They had met up with each other in a culinary institute, both taking an internship with Jiraiya.

"Maybe it was destiny."

"Maybe."

* * *

Jiraiya gave an outburst when Ino informed him of her departure. "Couldn't even bother to give me at least a month's notice?!"

She smiled guiltily. "Heh, well it was kind of abrupt…"

Jiraiya just sighed. He looked at her, "Good luck, kid. It's going to be hard replacing you, but all the same, I wish you luck."

"Thanks, Jiraiya-sama," replied Ino.

"Come visit some time."

"Of course."

She walked out of his office and into the kitchen. It was still prep time, so the kitchen wasn't bustling as much. Everyone stopped what they were doing when she walked. She figured Tenten had probably told them everything.

"So, Ino," began Naruto, "is it true?"

"That I'm leaving for Tokyo?"

"So it is true!" he exclaimed. "How could you be leaving us?!" He looked at her as if she was a traitor.

"Ah, Naruto…you need to see it as more of a…duty of piety," explained Ino. The curious looks of the others made her understand that they wanted to hear the story of the will reading from her. Taking a deep sigh, she began explaining her reasons for leaving (leaving out personal comments on some topics, like Sasuke, for example). These people had been her coworkers for years; they deserved a clear explanation for her departure.

"So this is good bye then?" asked Kaoru, one of the pastry chefs.

Ino smiled sadly. "Don't think of it as good bye. Think of it as… 'see you later'."

After a few minutes of 'good byes' and promises of keeping in touch (even the ice king Neji came to give her a, though succinct and curt, good bye).

The next day and a half she spent going around and telling everyone in town good bye and buying things she deemed necessary for her leaving. She didn't see Tenten go home until very late, since the restaurant was busy, and Ino didn't realize how much she would miss this city until the last night she spent there. She had already told Kisame when she would depart and he had gotten their train tickets, this time first class. It wasn't that much time to say goodbye to the city she loved, but she wanted to get settled in Tokyo as soon as possible.

She thought of how empty she would feel without the bustling of Osaka and all of the friends she had made. A year hadn't seem so long, but now that she thought about it, a year was 365 days, 21,900 minutes, 131,400 seconds…it had taken her forever to find the perfect place to start her life and now she was going back to square one…

She hoped that Tokyo would be better than when she had left it. Turning over, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep, remembering that she had to get up early tomorrow to pick up an important package and would depart for Tokyo later that afternoon.

* * *

A/N: Yes, yes, tedious I know, but I wrote this chapter half way through and too much time went by before I finished the other half, so I lost my whole insight, so just wait…it'll get better I swear! But yeah, hope you managed to enjoy it. Oh, and Happy Belated Thanksgiving! 


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Shikamaru had hoped that no one would remember this year, and he wasn't disappointed. The day had passed by as usual with no one bothering to tell him a "happy" anything, and that was just how he liked it. There wasn't any trouble of throwing a party or getting a cake, which meant he didn't have to pretend he was happy or grateful. It was already troublesome being manager of the restaurant, and his job, was, after all, to manage and, as the _tournant_, to assist the other stations, but to put up with unnecessary festivities wasn't in his contract.

"Morning," greeted Temari, the co-manager of the place and also the _garde manger_. Her job was to also be responsible for the preparation of cold hors d'oeuvres, salads, and organize large buffet displays.

"You're late." Everyone had come an hour an hour ago, and it was almost an obligation for her to come earlier than the rest of the staff.

"Anko sent me on a few errands." Anko was the executive chef, the one who really ran the kitchen. She scared Shikamaru a bit, but she knew her stuff.

"Alright," replied Shikamaru. "Well, meeting in a few minutes, just to let you know." He began to walk away.

"Hey, wait a sec," began Temari. "Later, are you busy, because I—"

" Shikamaru!" yelled an annoying, yet strangely familiar, voice. The next thing he knew, a strong force had hit him. He realized he was being, not hugged, but glomped. "Shikamaru, I haven't seen you in ages!"

Struggling underneath the embrace of doom, he looked up at the face. "Get off of me, Ino." The whole kitchen was staring, including Temari, who was almost knocked over when Ino had run at Shikamaru.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I haven't been here in ages. How've you been?"

He examined her. She looked as good as usual, wearing a black t-shirt and teal skinny jeans with a pair of black flats. They had been keeping in touch when she left for Osaka, but they hadn't contact each other in the past few months. He knew she was coming back. Sakura had filled him in, since he hadn't been able to attend the will reading. "You're actually going to do it?" He'd seen tabloids saying that she had accepted the challenge, but Sakura hadn't really confirmed if they were true or not. He gave her two weeks before cracking.

She stared at him as if he was crazy. "Of course. You don't think I'm going to let that pink haired b-"

"Ino-pig!" exclaimed another voice. It was Sakura, coming over to "greet" Ino. "I thought you would've chickened out!"

"As if," said Ino. "You know I can't get rid of an opportunity to beat you, Forehead."

"Ino?" Kiba had just walked into the kitchen, carrying a couple of boxes.

"Kiba!" exclaimed Ino. She went over to give him a hug. He put down his boxes and embraced her.

"Didn't think I'd see you so soon," said Kiba. "I don't like this whole celibacy thing. I was hoping that when you'd come back, we'd have a little…'meeting' together at my place. You were my _best_ friend with benefits, after all." He placed a hand over her bottom.

She laughed and slapped his hand away. "You're such a horny bastard, you know that?"

"Oh, I think I'm slightly aware of that," said Kiba with a dirty grin.

A few of the others had already gone back to prepping for tonight, but the some still watched Ino with interest. "Oh, Shikamaru, before I forget, I got you a little something." Ino dug through one of her paper bags and handed him a package wrapped in bright pink wrapping paper tied with a purple bow.

"What's this for?" he asked, grabbing it and looking at the colors with distaste.

"Your birthday of course! Happy belated birthday!" She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"No, his birthday's on-" Temari stopped in midsentence. "Why didn't you remind anyone it was your birthday?" She gave him a very cold glare.

"Shikamaru!" said Sakura. "You could've said something and we would've done something for you."

Shikamaru groaned. Ino hadn't even been here for an hour and she already brought troublesomeness with her. "Must've slipped my mind."

Ino looked at Temari. "Hello, I'm Yamanaka Ino, and you must be…?"

"Temari," came her succinct reply.

"Hey you all!" came a loud and irritated voice. Everyone turned their heads toward the source. It was Anko, looking super pissed. "I said we were going to meet at ten, and do you know what time it is? Ten past ten. I've been waiting in the room, wondering where the hell my employees were. Did Buddha reincarnate right before your eyes? Was that what kept you all?"

Shikamaru sighed. A pissed Anko was worse than soggy bread. "Ino's here."

Anko blinked and looked at Ino. "I think I do remember getting a memo…Oh my gawd Ino, you've grown so big!" Anko and Ino embraced in a reminiscing hug.

"Hey, Anko, I brought you a gift, too!" She took out a smaller bag from her larger bag. From the looks of it, the bag had come from a sweet shop. She handed it to Anko.

Putting her hand inside, she pulled out a fancy box of dangos. She squealed with delight, "It's great to have you back kid." She patted her on the head.

"Um, the meeting, Anko-san?" asked Shikamaru.

"Oh right," said Anko, putting the dangos back into the bag. "Now, if everyone will just make their way into the conference room."

Once everyone was settled in a soft green chair, Anko said, "Before we get to other business, as you all can see, Yamanaka Ino will be joining our kitchen now, hopefully being a permanent member." A few craned their necks to take a look at her. "Now, Shikamaru, if you don't mind—"

"Which I do," mumbled Shikamaru

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Anyways, now if you don't mind, please introduce everyone to Ino."

He sighed. Anko always left the introducing to him. As if new members couldn't meet people for themselves. "That's Inuzuka Kiba—"

"She knows who I am," said Kiba.

"This is how I've memorized it, and to change any of it would just be troublesome, so shut up," replied Shikamaru. "As I was saying, Inuzuka Kiba's one of waiters and _garcon de cuisine_ (meaning he performs preparatory and auxiliary work for the kitchen). She's Karin—" he motioned to the red head that Ino had seen at the will reading who was all over Sasuke—"and she aids Uchiha Sasuke with the grilling and frying. Uchiha Sasuke is in charge of most meat dishes as well as most dishes that require roasting, broiling, or frying. Hozuki Suigetsu—" he nodded towards the direction of a cute white haired guy sitting on the other side of Sasuke—" is in charge of all gourmet drinks and is the bartender on weekend nights, but also aids Sasuke's station when aid is required. Juugo—" the tall orange haired man sitting next to Suigetsu—"is also a waiter, as well as Kin—" a girl with long black hair sitting next to Sakura—"and Tayuya—" a tomboyish looking redhead sitting on Sakura's other side—"and Haruno Sakura is not only our entremetier (person who prepares soups and other dishes not involving meat or fish, including vegetable dishes and egg dishes) but is also the saucier and works sometimes at the baking station, which leads me to Sai—" he had black hair and was strangely pale, but Ino thought that might've been working with too much flour and that he resembled Sasuke a bit—"who does most of the baking and desserts. Temari's also a manger, like me, and the garde manger, and Hatake Kakashi who doesn't seem to be here right now—"

Just then a man with a mask concealing his face burst into the room. "I'm so sorry that I'm late, but you see, a kitten was stuck in a tree and I—"

"Shut the hell up Hatake, and just sit down," commanded Anko. He shrugged and obeyed.

"Anyways," continued Shikamaru, "Kakashi's the executive mood supervisor." For as long as Ino coul d remember, that was what Kakashi was."No one has a clue what that was, but according to her father, he does a very good job of it. "He's also the host, so I guess he does have some use, along with Shizune, who's giving a visit to Tsunade. Sarutobi Asuma's another one of our head chefs, as I assume you do remember. Our other, er, 'staff members' come later. Konohamaru's our plongeur, which I hope you know is the fancy term for the dishwasher, and Udon and Moegi are the marmitons, which is another fancy term for junior dishwashers. I don't even know if we can legally have them here, but they're persistent, and they think they're our apprentices, so just play along, and if you want, they can do menial tasks for you, like chop scallions. We also have others who come and go, but this is our main staff. Tsunade sometimes send down people she thinks who has potential or need a temporary job." _Woot_, he thought to himself. He was finished. He really did wish Tsunade would stop sending people down; it was a pain in the ass to keep doing these introductions.

"Thank you Shikamaru," said Anko. "Yamanaka Ino will be in charge of the fish station and will be one of the saucier chefs." Sakura's eyes flashed anger, but she said nothing. "If any of you need any help, she's the one to go to. If you haven't heard of her yet, go buy a magazine or something, because her father's made her into practically as big of a legend as he was, may he rest in peace.

"In other news, a business group has booked the restaurant for a dinner party a few weeks from now, and they've provided a list of what they'd like to have available, so we won't have to think of a menu, but I do want you all to add a little pizzazz to it. Do something new and innovative and make sure your displays are perfect. I trust you to be in charge of organizing the buffet displays. Keep in mind that they've booked a musical entertainment, so you'll have to decide where they go.

"Now, in other words, it's fall, but I still see some of you using the spring dishes, which is a no-no. And remember, think autumn. Temari's gotten a load of new stuff for you guys to take a look at and try it. If you've thought of anything good, come to Shikamaru or Temari or me. We want to give the customers something new next week, something they haven't tried before. Any new business any of you would like to bring up? No? Well, get your asses back to work then!"

Everyone slowly went out, with some speaking a few words of welcoming back to Ino. It left Shikamaru, Temari, and Ino being the last ones in the room. Shikamaru turned to Temari, "So what were you saying before?"

Temari pursed her lips and said, "It was nothing." She brushed past him to help the others prep.

"Troublesome woman," muttered Shikamaru.

"Problems with your girlfriend?" piqued Ino.

"What makes you think she's my girlfriend," he said irritably.

"My mistake then. She just seems to like you a lot."

"What makes you think that?" His meddling senses were tingling. He hated how Ino just loved to tamper with the lives of others, and when she had lived here, she had done it so much that he had developed a keen sense of detecting when she would strike. This sense was being strongly stimulated right now.

"A girl can always tell, that's all," winked Ino. "You should go for it. She's cute."

"Speaking of Asuma—"

"Which we weren't," interrupted Ino.

"—Didn't you wonder where Kurenai went?"

"Well, I was actually curious, but I didn't want to ask. I assume Kurenai and Asuma are still married?" She had gone to the wedding and was even one of the bridesmaids. Asuma wasn't as great of a teacher as her father, but he made a better fatherly figure.

"Yeah, but Kurenai's on maternity leave, and I hear that she's going to be taking a few years off to stay home with the baby once it's born."

Shikamaru was deafened by Ino's squeals. "How exciting! A baby! How many months has it been? Is it a boy or girl? Why didn't you write about this before? What are they going to name it?!"

"Geezes Ino, you act like you're the one with the baby." He was actually glad that this topic occupied her now instead of the one about him and Temari. "To answer your questions, I have no clue." She smacked him on the arm. "OW!"

"I would've thought that you'd pay more attention, since you and Asuma are so close," scolded Ino. "Oh my gawd, this is so exciting! I can't wait for the baby shower!"

"Right, exciting," he said unenthusiastically.

"You're such a wet blanket."

"Thanks. Speaking of birth, isn't today your birthday?"

"I'm surprised you remembered." She grinned at him.

"I'm not that ignorant. Anyways, yours comes a day after mine, and don't you usually do something big?"

She thought about how to explain it to him. "Well, you know, every year for my birthday, I end up getting drunk, and as you know, I do a lot of…er… stupid things when I'm drunk. Seeing my circumstances this year, I thought it'd be wiser if I didn't do anything that might lead me to go drinking, and if I let out that it was my birthday, Sakura would probably try to invite me to go out partying or something, and you know I can't refuse, so I want to keep this whole birthday thing a secret, and make it seem as if my twenty-fifth birthday never happened at all. "

Shikamaru had to give her credit. She had really thought it through. Maybe she would last longer than he thought. He sighed, "Well, I guess that means you don't want my present then."

Ino's eyes widened. "Present?"

"Yeah, since you're choosing to ignore this particular birthday…"

"No, wait, presents are fine!"

He silently chuckled. It was the same old Ino. He opened a cabinet in the conference room and pulled out square package neatly wrapped in wrapping paper with the Chanel symbol all over it. Ino opened it with zest, a happy anticipated look on her face. It was the Chanel penguin sweater dress created by Karl Lagerfeld.

"Shikamaru!" She glomped him again. "You're the greatest!"

"Ino, get off. It's no big deal. I was just in the Chanel boutique with Tema—a friend, and I saw it, and since it was getting cold and all, I thought you'd like it…"

She let go of him. "You didn't open your gift yet."

He had forgotten that he was still holding the atrociously bright package. He ripped off the paper and saw that it was a shougi board, the pieces hand carved from ebony and ivory while the board was made from Austrian crystal. "Ino, you must've spent a fortune." Her gifts were always unique and highly extravagant.

"Heh, well I knew a guy in Osaka, and he owed me a huge favor," replied Ino. Shikamaru handed her one of the white uniforms and she put it on as she tied her hair back into her signature ponytail.

Shikamaru sighed again. "I don't do this much, so don't get used to it…" He leaned over and gave her a tight hug, quickly letting go. It took a while for Ino to get over the shock. He noticed her grinning at him, so he said, "Let's go. You can see how things work in this kitchen."

* * *

"Ew, and can you believe her shoes?" asked Sakura. "Wedges were so last season."

"Ugh, I know, and did she look in the mirror before she left the house? Her eyelashes were straight as a messed up rainbow," agreed Tayuya. They were chopping up vegetables for tonight's dinner service.

Shikamaru and Ino had walked into the middle of Sakura's and Tayuya's criticism of some poor girl who had the displeasure of going out with them one evening.

"Sakura, your mouth's almost as big as your forehead," said Ino.

The three at that station looked at her, Kin giving her a particularly mean look. Before any of them could say anything back, Shikamaru waved Ino away, saying, "Come, Ino, and you ladies just go back to your brilliant chopping." When they were out of earshot, he hissed at her, "Don't mess with them. They're a nasty group."

"Shikamaru, you've known me since forever and yet, you truly don't know me. I can handle them."

"Ino, don't go looking for trouble." He brought her to an empty station. "Kurenai was in charge of most of the fish dishes, but since she's left, Sakura's been taking over, but to be honest, I don't think she's that great. We've had a few customers complain of bones in their sushi."

Ino gasped. That was a huge offense. "You think she'll be pissed now that I'm also saucier?"

"Probably, since that _is_ one of the highest roles in the kitchen. I think Sakura and her trio's already finished filleting most of the fish, but you might want to give Sai a hand. He's a bit peculiar, but he's good at what he does. And, though I don't think I should be telling you this, but he tends to piss of Sakura a lot."

"Where are you going?" asked Ino.

"To sleep, of course."

"Shikamaru…"

"It seems like everyone has everything under control. Sai's just right through those doors, in the baking room. If you need me, which I'm praying you won't, I'll be in the conference room. The table makes a pretty good bed."

Ino shook her head at his retreating figure, noticing how static his personality was. She was a bit happy, since Sai did look similar to Sasuke. She hoped he wasn't as cold.

When she walked in, he was already filling up mochi with red bean paste. "Need some help?" she asked.

"You're Yamanaka-sama's daughter, right?" asked Sai.

"Yeah," replied Ino. Something hit her. "Wait…you were that guy who sat in front of me at the will reading?"

"Glad you remembered." He gave her a strange smile. She couldn't place a finger on why it was strange, but it was different from any other smiles she had seen, almost as if it were trying to be real, but couldn't quite reach the level of being genuine. "Could you give me a hand with filling these up, but with the white bean paste instead? Fill the white ones with it, I've got the pink ones covered."

"I remember my father always making _ichigo daifuku_ during the spring. It's still the same recipe for the mochi?" asked Ino as grabbed the bowl of paste and began filling up the white mochi.

"Yes, Yamanaka-sama's original recipe," replied Sai.

She wondered how long he had been working here, noting how his moves were swift and graceful.

"So you know Baabaa-chan?" asked Sai, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" Ino wasn't sure if she heard right.

"Ah, I mean, Sakura-chan," explained Sai.

So he'd just called Sakura old hag. She was liking him more by the second. "Yeah, we go way back."

"Are you two friends?"

"Of course." A piece of the mochi she was folding tore off. "Shit." She tried pinching it back together. "What about you? Hang out with anyone here?"

Sai thought about it for a second as he was folding the mochi around the _anko _filling. "Not really. I used to, with a guy name Uzumaki Naruto."

Ino's eyes lit up. "Oh, I know him!" She remembered that Naruto had worked with Jiraiya long before she had, but he had been learning under her father for a while, and that he had came back to Kurahara to work for a few years when she arrived at Jiraiya's, but he went back to Jiraiya in the end. It was just so like Naruto to jump all over the place. "He's such a loud mouth."

"Yeah, he was my best friend. Sometimes I felt as if we were more."

The blood that flowed through Ino went icy cold. Was it just her or did Sai sound a bit homosexual just then? "I'm sure he'll come and visit."

"He did promise…maybe his penis will have grown bigger by now."

Her premonition of Sai's gayness grew, as well as her disappointment of that fact. "Er…I'm sure his penis is a suitable size…"

"If he comes back, we'll have so much more fun together," said Sai, reminiscently.

"Are you dating any chicks Sai?" This question would surely confirm a true answer.

"No, no one at the moment. To be honest, I've never really properly dated any girls."

"Why not?"

"I'm not really interested in girls."

"Oh. Are you, um, interested in, say….guys?" asked Ino. She knew it was a direct question, but the curiosity was killing her.

Sai stared at her. Then, he began laughing. "Are you asking me if I'm gay?"

"N—yes, and I'm trying to do it subtly. Did it work?" she asked, glad that he was taking it in a non-offensive way.

"You failed at subtly, but to answer your question, no, I'm not gay at all," replied Sai. "You'd be surprised at how many people have been wondering that."

"Heh, no kidding?" They proceeded to fill up the remaining last _daifuku. _"So where'd you school anyways, for like culinary stuff, I mean."

"Root Culinary Institute."

Ino's head almost came off as she quickly turned around to gape at him. "Seriously?! I heard that place was one of the toughest schools to get into and they'd literally suck all the emotion out of you."

"Funny you should say that…but it wasn't that bad. The experience taught me a lot."

They proceeded to make _castella_, a Japanese sponge cake, _chinsuko_, a small biscuit with a mild and sweet flavor, _imagawayaki_, which they filled some with sweet azuki beans and others with taro paste, _melonpan_, a pastry made from brioche and covered in a thin layer of crispy cookie dough, _dango_ with four different types of filling, and even some _hahngwa_, which was actually Korean confectionaries. Sai had already finished most of the other preparations and the rest had to be prepared right after the guest ordered it. They chatted about random things as they talked, Ino enjoying Sai's company more and more.

"So what exactly do you sketch?" asked Ino after he had told her of his interest in drawing.

"People, places, things, nothing in particular. None of my works have names," replied Sai. They had just finished putting the last batch of melonpan into the oven, and were sitting down to rest.

"Show me one day, okay?"

"Alright. Feel like some _halo-halo_?"

"I'd love some, but I'm sort of dieting."

The comment led to Sai scrutinizing her. Then, Sai leaned in, looked into her eyes, holding her chin in his hand. "You don't need it you know."

"I-I don't?" said Ino softly as his face reached closer to hers. Her heart was beating a bit faster, a bit louder, but her breathing was slower and deeper. Their lips could almost touch now…

"Nope," said Sai, suddenly, breaking apart and getting up. "So it's settled then. I'll go make us some halo-halo."

As Ino sat there still a bit daze from what had just occurred, he took out two tall glass cups and began filling them with colorful jelly, agar-agar, shreds of jack fruit and cubed mango, sweet red beans, sweet palm seeds, and slices of coconut, which he all got from the refrigerator, and began filling the cups up with crushed ice until only an inch or two of the glass remained. He poured over it condensed milk and some coconut milk with a small portion of the sweet syrup that came from the canned jackfruit, and topped it off with a scoop of ice cream and leche flan. He brought out two long spoons and carried the glass cups over to Ino, offering her to take one.

Hesitantly, she accepted it, commenting, "Strange to be eating halo-halo during the colder seasons."

"It's one of my favorites, so I keep a steady supply of its components in the fridge and for a few special regulars as well." He stuck a spoon into it, and began eating the cold, sweet dessert, savoring the bits of fruit and beans.

Ino reluctantly stuck the spoon full of calories into her mouth, ruining her diet for the day. It was a beautiful taste of tropical fruits and rich milk, and it brought back hot summer days of her childhood when the vendors would sell shaved ice treats like this. Her father never piled his _halo-halo_ as much as Sai did, but she liked Sai's decadent dessert better.

"Marry me, Sai," proposed Ino. "You can make this for me every day and we can grow fat and old together." She indulged some more.

Sai laughed. He looked at her again, his face serious. "You're so cute, you know that?"

Ino looked back at him and blushed. She cursed herself for it, wondering why she would be blushing when she had so much experience with guys, but Sai…he was so direct and so strange…she couldn't predict his movements…but she was glad to have met him. So this morning wasn't as bad as she thought it would've been. And, plus, Sai wasn't gay. That made everything all the better.

* * *

Dinner service was about to start in a few minutes. Everyone was moving around faster than usual; even Shikamaru bothered to get up and help the others with preparing. When they finally opened their doors, crowds of people poured in, some with reservations and others who had to wait at least an hour before a table was opened. The underage employees were already there, each ready to wash away at the utensils or chop garlic or whatever was required of them, excited to be in the bustling atmosphere.

The dinner service wasn't much different from what Ino had experienced at Jiraiya's. Of course, she and Sakura competed for dishes made by the saucier. Anko had told them to play nice and take turns, but that was as effective as telling a lion to go vegetarian. Ino had already prepared her _dashi_ stock ahead of time, so that gave her an advantage at making the miso soup, but Sakura had the upper hand in creating _imoni_. This went back and forth as the waiters and waitresses brought in orders, but since Ino was also in charge in fish and Sakura in charge of the vegetable dishes, they had other priorities to think about.

Throughout half of the dinner service, Kiba came into the kitchen, announcing that some man was unhappy with his _chawanmushi_. "He claimed it was too flavorless and when I sent out another one, he said it sucked too, and er, he demands a free meal…" He looked over at Anko for help on what to do.

"Tell him to shove it up his ass," she said. Then, she turned around and looked at the staff. "Okay, which one of you made the _chawanmushi_?"

"Er…" Sakura and Ino looked at each other. They each had made so many of them that night that who was to know who made which one?

"Anko," began Ino, "if you want, I'll take care of it." When Jiraiya realized that Naruto wasn't good at handling bitchy customers (the guy had thrown a large bowl of natto at a famous singer, for Kami-san's sake), he had sent either Ino or Neji to handle it (Neji was most popular with the ladies), so she had a little experience with it.

"You're not going to do anything rash, are you?" Anko knew Ino's fiery attitude. If someone pissed her off, Ino would let them have it.

"Of course not, but don't worry, if I fail at persuading him, you can dock it from my pay."

"Alright, but if there's any trouble, call Kiba."

Ino walked through the doors, Kiba guiding her towards the table. The man was one of those big and sweaty businessmen, who, everyone knew, were perverts underneath. He had two beautiful women on both of his sides (Ino was almost sure that they were at least twenty years younger than him). This was going to be a cinch.

"Sir, is there a problem?" asked Ino, putting on one of her dazzling smiles. Ah, how fake she could be when she wanted to be. Very few people, including Shikamaru, could see through this shield an analyze how she really felt.

The man looked at her, examining her body. "Yeah, your food tastes like crap, and I want a free meal for me and my beautiful dates." The women on both of his sides giggle.

That eliminated her waterworks plan. He wouldn't feel any mercy for a crying girl. She approached it from a different angle. "Oh, you know I'd love to give a handsome man like you a free meal"—he grinned at this remark—", but my boss…she's bitter towards men…but I'm sure I can sneak you a few dozen _hanabiramochi_?" She gave him a sweet smile. "And if that doesn't feed your appetite, maybe—" she said the last few lines a little quieter—"a call to me will." She handed him a card with her n umber on it. The girls next to him glared at her furiously, but he looked at her hungrily, reaching for the card.

"Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk. When do you get out?" he asked.

"I'm afraid pretty late tonight," she replied apologetically.

"I expect you to pick up your phone on Saturday." He left some money on the table and left with the two huffing girls by his side.

"Woah, Ino," said Kiba as he picked up the money. "It's a C-note!" He looked at her shiftily. "You didn't really give him your number did you?"

She smirked, "It's to my other cell phone, for creeps like him. They like to buy me nice things."

He laughed. "You are such a whore."

"Right back atcha," she winked, returning back to the kitchen.

* * *

It was about time to close. The last dishes were being cleared and washed and everyone was putting the supplies away in the cupboard. A few had already left for the night.

"Sasuke-kun!" whined Sakura. "Will you give me a ride home, please? Tayuya and Kin already left!"

He grunted consent as she squealed in delight. Karin growled. "Ride with Suigetsu for tonight," commanded Sasuke. As they were about to exit, he walked into Ino. For a split second, their eyes met, but he quickly turned to the side, grunting, "Let's go." He walked to his car with Sakura tagging behind him and scowling at Ino.

"UGH!" cried Karin. The glass she was holding seemed to be under a great amount of pressure. "Why does he want to spend time alone with that big, fat, forehead bitch?!"

"If you go in the same car as her, you two are going to fight, you know," commented Suigetsu.

"But if I ride with you, _we're_ going to fight! That's why we go to work in two different cars in the first place!"

"Yeah but…you two would probably slaughter each other. Calm down, and Juugo, let's go," motioned Suigetsu.

Juugo grunted and they left.

"Geezes, what a major Sasuke-otaku," said Ino after they had left.

Shikamaru snorted. "As if you haven't treated Sasuke anything less of Kami-sama in the past."

"Shut up…that was a long time ago," but Ino couldn't deny that her heart did jump when his piercing eyes darted into hers…

Temari looked incredulously at her. It was her turn to lock up for the night. "You were a Sasuke fan girl?"

"Yeah, can you believe it?"

"I don't blame you though…he's pretty hot," smiled Temari.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

"It seems as if he's gotten colder…"

"Eh? Was he ever warm?" asked Temari.

The three began to leave the kitchen while Ino answered, "I guess you can't say he was ever truly warm, but he was a bit kind…"

_"Hey," called Ino, __jabbing Sasuke__ with a pencil._

_"What?" asked Sasuke, __irritated.__ He was concentrating furiously on the paper in front of him, nearly finished.__ The two were at Ino's house studying for an exam tomorrow._

_"What did you get for number six?" asked Ino._

_"B," replied Sas__uke. He returned__ back to his work. A minute later, she jabbed him again. "Yes?"_

_"How'd you get that?"_

_"Well, all of the electrons have to fill the smallest levels before it can fill the higher levels, according to the __Aufbau__ Principle, and there's only a maximum number of two electrons per orbital, according to the Paul Exclusion Principle, so it has to be B, since A has three electrons in one and C has the higher energy levels being filled before the lower ones."_

_"Oh, okay. Thanks, Sasuke-kun." _

_Five minutes passed before she poked him again. "What is it now?"_

_"Er…What's an electron?" _

_"...You're serious?__"_

_"Heh…kind of…"_

_He gave a frustrated sigh. "You're hopeless, you know that? Why are you in this class anyways?"_

_"My family does provide for nearly half of the donations that go into this school after all," __grinned__ Ino._

_"How corrupt the system is," commented __Sasuke._

_"So, um, any plans for homecoming?" asked Ino casually._

_"What?"_

_"You, know, like, are you going or anything?" She crossed her fingers behind her back._

_"Of course not.__ I wouldn't be caught dead there."_

_"Oh yeah, me either." She had already picked out a dress._

_"So what did you need help with again?" he asked bending over her work._

_"Um, this one…_"

* * *

A/N: Yay! It's a finished chapter! Sorry it took a while for me to update. Thanks to everyone for reviewing. It's you people who put the blood into my stories. I was actually a bit proud of this chapter because it accomplished a lot of what I wanted it to, and also because it was one of the longest ones I've written so far. It might take me quite a while to get the next chappy up because of winter break stuff and homework, and my apologies to those who also read _Kindergarten Love_, since I haven't updated that one in forever… 


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